Of Thoughts and Useless Places
by SolarCat
Summary: FelixPiersish. Stargazing, thinking, and things that happen when certain Lemurians try to get you to hide them from your sister.


**A/N:** Hi, all! I'm back again, with my second contribution to the GS fandom! I know that some people really want a continuation of my IssacIvan fic (which now has a title, by the way!), but I really couldn't come up with any ideas... and then this popped into my head, since Felix and Piers have taken up residence there recently (which explains why Harry and Draco can't find their handcuffs... #sigh#). Ah, well.

Anyway, I haven't gotten all the way through GS:TLA yet, but I'm working on it in between classes and homework and stuff. So, if I have anything that's glaringly wrong, don't yell at me! This is, obviously, my first time writing this pairing, so constructive criticism is greatly appreciated!

**Disclaimer**—I don't own GS or GS:TLA. I wish I did. If I owned it, everyone would know the _real_ reason why Felix went to such lengths to get Piers out of jail. Can you say "love at first sight", anyone? #grin# Also, I did not come up with the idea of Piers calling Felix "Fe", but I absolutely adored it and had to use it. To whoever was first to use this: You are my god. I love you. And I hope you won't get mad at me for borrowing!

**Warnings:** Random Felix-thoughts, tiny little bits of angst, mild shonen-ai, slightly WAFF-y at the end. Yay, WAFF!

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**Of Thoughts and Useless Places**

Felix enjoyed looking at the stars. It wasn't something he had really ever indulged in before, but he was beginning to wonder why. He was lying down near the middle of the ship, on the raised section of deck that never seemed to serve any useful purpose except as a place to hide when Jenna began one of her rampages. Now, Felix felt confident in adding stargazing to the short list of things this piece of deck was good for.

The sky seemed to stretch for eternity, falling away to melt into the blackness of the nighttime sea without any horizon at all. They were somewhere in the Eastern Sea, Felix knew, though he couldn't have said exactly where. If anyone had asked, he would have said they were heading for the Apoji Islands, but right then, at night, with the stars glittering brightly above him, Felix wondered if perhaps they were headed straight over Gaia Falls, and wondered if they would notice any difference if they did go over. What was at the bottom of the Falls? Did they go on into infinity, or did they stop somewhere, filling up another world's seas? Felix didn't know that, either.

It was peaceful, he decided, lying here on this useless bit of deck (he knew Piers would be angry that he called any part of the Lemurian's precious ship 'useless'), staring up at the stars and feeling the ship rock slightly as the waves sloshed against its sides. The rhythm was soothing, comforting. He wondered why he found it so; being a Venus adept and so closely aligned with the earth, it seemed odd to him that he would glean such comfort from the motion of the water that stretched for eons in all directions. But he did, and he was grateful for it. It felt like it had been years since he had been properly able to relax, and in fact it probably had been. Ever since the eruption of Mt. Aleph...

He could still remember Jenna screaming from the shore as he'd been washed away down the river. He had known that they had believed him dead. What he couldn't remember was why he'd decided to go with the two who had dragged him out of the river again, instead of back home to his beloved Vale- his friends, his family. Felix had been happy, growing up in Vale, he had no reason to leave... and yet...

But the Felix looking at the stars suddenly wondered why that young Felix seemed like some other person, someone far away and vastly separate from the person he felt he was now. World-saving quests did that to a person, he rationalized; though he wondered when the world-saving quest had become more about sailing around the Eastern Sea looking for Lemuria than about actually saving the world. He wondered what would happen if they didn't light the last two lighthouses. He wondered what would happen if they did. He wondered if Isaac intended on killing him, when he and his own little band of heroes finally caught up to them. He wondered if he would be able to kill Isaac to save himself. He hoped he would never have to find out.

Felix let his eyes roam across the expanse of tiny lights in the night sky. There was Iris, looking down... and Charon, and the others, too. Flora, just there, and a ways off there was Azul... He stared at it for a while, letting that feeling of child-like awe sweep over him. He wondered how long they had been there, watching the Falls chip away at Weyard. How much larger had it once been? What places had been there before that had long since eroded away? What people? The dragon stared back at him, but gave no answer. He wondered if the dragon on the ship's bow was meant to be Azul. Maybe he would ask Piers sometime. Maybe not. Maybe he would keep the thought to himself, let it remain a thought meant for him, and only him.

Felix collected thoughts like treasures; thoughts could stay with you, be yours even if everything else you owned or knew or loved was lost. He had lots of thoughts, most of them fleeting and as illusory as the mirages in the Lamakan Desert. His dreams were full of thoughts, though he couldn't always remember what they were or why they had seemed so important. More than once he had awoken to a memory of being held by something warm and strong and safe, that smelled of the sea- though these days everything seemed to smell of the sea. He could remember that it was good, that in the dream he had felt happy and safe and at peace. He just couldn't place why, and nothing more would come to the surface of his memory.

The stars kept at their twinkling, unhindered by anything on this moonless night. He didn't know how Kraden could see to steer, but he appeared to be managing, and at the moment, Felix didn't much care where they ended up. He could feel the soft sway of the ship lulling him to sleep (he should get up, he knew, or his neck would hurt in the morning), when something large and heavy tripped over him. It had turquoise hair, and a pair of golden eyes that were blinking owlishly at him. He blinked back.

"Oh. Felix! Hide me!" It said quite a lot about the events of their journey so far that Felix didn't find this to be an unusual request, instead choosing to let his lips quirk upward into a small smile.

"What did you do to my sister this time, Piers?" The Lemurian did his best to look stunned at the accusation of wrongdoing on his part, but Felix had seen the look enough times not to be fooled.

"Never you mind what I did or did not do! You still can't let her kill me!"

"Oh? And why not?" Felix raised an eyebrow, feeling suddenly playful and wondering if the stars had some kind of damaging effect on the psyche.

"Fe! You wouldn't!" Piers was pouting. And quite unashamedly, at that. Felix let his smile grow a little wider.

"And why wouldn't I? I'm risking her wrath by hiding you, after all." He leaned up on one elbow, bringing his gaze marginally closer to level with that of the seated Piers. Who was looking quite shocked, actually. It was rare for Felix to string so many words together. And in a row, too! Multiple sentences! And what could almost be a smile! Piers had to admit that even if Jenna did kill him with her bare hands, it might be worth it if it meant he got to witness the extremely rare sight of Felix smiling. He knew the (much) younger man hated that he tended to be placed in the category of 'pretty', but it was true. Particularly, Piers noted, when he was leaning on his elbow not two feet away, smiling, with the starlight reflecting in his dark eyes. Jenna could have appeared at that moment in all her angered-Mars-adept fury, and he wouldn't have noticed a thing.

"Piers?" Felix was looking at him oddly. Oh. Right. He had been asked a question.

"Maybe because I own the ship?" Piers recovered, hoping that he still sounded like himself. Admittedly, a version of himself who was hiding in fear of the wrath of a seventeen-year-old girl, but still himself.

"Nope. Not good enough." Felix was beginning to wonder what was wrong with him. Any other time, he would have simply allowed the Lemurian to crouch in the corner in silence, and would merely grunt a 'no' when Jenna asked if he had spotted her quarry anywhere. But he realized that, somehow, this way was more fun. "We can steer the boat without you. Try again."

Felix lay back down, his head pillowed on his arms so that he could see Piers' expression. It was rather priceless. He didn't think he had ever seen the Lemurian quite as flustered, not even when his precious Orb had been stolen. He was... 'Cute.' Felix thought before he could stop himself. 'Cute' was not a word he normally associated with Piers. 'Annoying', certainly. Also patient, kind, funny... somehow, 'cute' had never before registered. Obviously, he was attractive, but it wasn't as if Felix had really spent much time pondering the attractiveness of his traveling companions. Considering that one was his sister and another was Kraden, this hadn't seemed like something to be worried about overlooking. Now he wasn't so sure that had been a wise decision.

Piers was stuttering, confusion overtaking his normally quick, witty responses to almost everything. It was almost like Felix was... _flirting_ with him, which was a very un-Felix-like thing for Felix to do. Unprecedented, to say the least. When it came to sweet-talking information out of the village girls they met, Piers had always found himself in charge, with Felix as an extraordinarily attractive shadow following silently behind. 'Well,' his subconscious quipped at him, 'There goes our theory that he's simply asexual.' Not, of course, that his subconscious was objecting to this in any way. In fact, it seemed to be all in favor of this new development.

"I- Well, I... er..." He wracked his brain trying to think up a very, very good reason why he was indispensable. "You can't get to Lemuria without me!" He finally announced, tempted to yell triumphantly but realizing that Jenna would surely hear, and that would lead to his immediate demise. Felix smiled at his companion's victorious expression.

Felix smiled.

Felix _smiled_.

In Piers' opinion, all was right with the world if Felix- stoic, unemotional Felix- was smiling. Even if it meant that he, Piers, was going to be dead at the hands of Felix's sister in another minute or so.

"Well, then, I guess I can't let you be killed, then, can I?" Felix moved over slightly, leaving enough room on the deck for Piers to stretch out and enough room on the edges that Jenna wouldn't be able to spot either of them from the main deck. Piers noted the invitation, and took it.

"Thanks, Fe." Felix mock-scowled at his friend.

"Don't call me that."

Piers ignored him, as usual.

"Beautiful, aren't they?" He commented, looking up at the sky.

"Mm."

They sat in silence for a while, gazing upward.

"I wouldn't have let her get you." Felix finally said, with a tone that suggested that he had spent the silence building this sentence, piece by piece. Piers grinned, scooting closer to nudge the youth's shoulder with his own.

"See, there! I _knew_ you loved me, Fe!" He grinned wider as a small flush blossomed on Felix's cheeks, barely noticeable in the scarce light.

"Mm." Felix's thought would be kept, for now, to himself. Another treasure in his collection.

Piers' grin faded into a smile and he moved even closer to Felix's side, the youth's warmth a welcome change from the cool night breeze. Felix didn't mind. They stayed there- lying just a little too close to be entirely innocent and looking up at the stars- until they slowly drifted off to sleep, curled together against the chill.

When Felix woke up the next morning, his neck was stiff, he was soaked in the morning mist, and he had Piers curled around him. So, he conceded to himself, maybe this little piece of deck wasn't quite so useless, after all.

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**Please review! Constructive criticisms are always welcome!**


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